Legend: Legacy of the Dragons

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Overview

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons is a browser based MMORPG set in the fantasy realm of Faeo. Two powerful nations, the human-like Ogriy and the darker Khair, vie for control but newcomers from both follow largely the same progression path. The game has a mix between still images used for towns & other areas and animations used during turn based combat encounters. Players start off nearly naked and must follow a series of quests to aquire armor, a weapon, and enough experience to venture into the world alone. Copper, silver, and gold coins form the main currencies of the game but Rubies and Diamonds must be purchased with real cash either with PayPal or SMS.

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Screenshots

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Featured Video

Full Review

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Full Review

By, Erhan Altay

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons is the lengthy title of a new browser based MMORPG by Astrum Online Entertainment. Browser games like this are big in Europe and it should come as no surprise that this one is hosted in Germany, though it remains open to international users. Legacy of Dragons mixes a text & image based interface with turn based combat that takes place in separate, animated battle scenes. The result is simple MMORPG filled with quests and PvP centered gameplay.

Connect With an Empire

Like most new browser games coming out these days, Legacy of the Dragons allows players to use Facebook Connect and skip the registration phase completely. The old fashioned registration process itself is short and only requires inputting an email address, which doesn’t even need to be verified. After registration, players must choose between two warring factions. The People of Ogriy can be thought of as the ‘good’ guys while the Nation of Khair looks more sinister. Ogriy men and women have fairer skin and features while the Khair are darker and have what appears to be lava coursing through their veins. Appearance customization is impressive for a browser game, players can chose between several face styles, skin tones, hair colors, and haircuits. A ‘random’ feature is available for those who want to get on with it and don’t much care for looks. Oddly, all characters start out wearing nothing but underwear which is a bit odd since players go into battle and even talk to NPCs before ever acquiring clothes.

You Absorb The Blow!

After character creation, players are given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the game’s interface and combat through a long battle that can’t be lost. Combat in Legacy of the Dragons takes place in small screens to the left hand side of the interface. On the right side, players can view a complete list of all participants in the battle. In most fights, there will be multiple participants on both sides, players working together or with NPC allies against either a horde of monsters or other players. To make things simple, all players need to worry about during the tutorial is choosing where to strike their opponent. The game allows characters to swing upward, towards the middle, or low. Striking in different patterns has a chance of producing combos or dealing bonus damage depending on the type of enemy being fought. Fortunately, the first battle is rigged in the player’s favor, they’ll absorb all incoming damage and be left unscratched. After this affair, players will get a chance to explore the interface in Legacy of the Dragons. Towns and other areas are composed to still images connected to each other by links. Clicking on a gate, for example, will move players towards the city square from which they can venture outside or into other areas of town. This is far from a full persistent world but when you consider the sheer size of the world map and diversity of areas, it’s still pretty impressive.

Text Based Questing

As with most MMORPGs, the first few quests include a mix of simple delivery and kill quests. The first kind is simple enough; players are expected to find a particular NPC by using the Navigation feature and world map. Making your way around the world of Faeo, as it is know, can be confusing at first. It took me a few minutes to realize the map can be placed side-to-side with the main interface and that highlighting a region on the map would make it blink on the list of available locations to the right. If players find themselves lost or wandering blind, it’s safe to say they’re doing something wrong since the navigation systems are quite helpful. In fact, their usefulness takes away any sense of exploration. I found myself simply moving from one region to the next without paying any attention to the areas I was traveling across. Even early level quests involve a bit of traveling which is made frustrating by a 30-40 waiting period imposed after traveling from zone to zone. Obviously this was meant as a means of preventing botting or automated play but I can’t see its effectiveness.

Hunting in the Wild

The other main quest type involves hunting. As the tutorial quests explain, players can transition to the hunting section of their current zone by hitting the ‘Hunting’ button on the top of the interface which looks like a bear’s face. This button takes players to an overhead screen with various NPCs wandering around below. Clicking the desired target with activate combat which takes place in a separate screen as experienced earlier. Fights are straight forward enough; combatants take turns exchanging blows until one side is wiped out. A results screen provides statistics after each battle and is logged for later viewing. As players complete quests, they will be rewarded with various armor and weapons. Most items have level requirements which put them out of reach for beginners. Leveling is slower in Legacy of Dragons than in most games but with a relatively low max level (15), it all evens out. The turn based gameplay in Legacy of Dragons is quite unique; it does share some similarities with combat in AdventureQuest and Aurora Blade but offers much more realistic visuals than those two animated games.

Arenas, Battlefields, and Great Battles, Oh My!

As is the case with most browser games, Legend: Legacy of the Dragons has plenty of PvP features. Besides standard duels which take place in the arena, players can participate in group battles in special battlefield zones. Two groups of equal size and level, each representing their nation, can fight to earn valor points and new ranks. By Ranking up, players earn rewards that can be claimed at the Arsenal located in either the Foothills (Ogriy) or the Hell’s Pass (Khair.) Not surprisingly, these two nations are often referred to as ‘Human’ and ‘Magmars’ on several sections of the website. As a foreign game in the free to play market, it almost goes without saying that Legacy of the Dragons suffers from some translation problems. The final and most interesting PvP option is referred to as ‘Great Battles.’ These are normal battlefield fights that happen to escalate to beyond 10 participants on each side. When this occurs, the fight is upgraded to a Great Battle and it becomes easier for others to join in. If the number of participants reaches 100, it becomes an ‘Epic Battle’ and finally a ‘Slaughter’ if 400 fighters are enlisted. Besides increased valor rates, these large scale fights reward special reputation.

Inviting Hand

Most browser games thrive on their community and Legend: Legacy of the Dragons does a good job at fostering an inviting atmosphere. Volunteer mentors can usually be found online in the chat channels to assist beginners. One even called out my name and asked if I needed help with anything. The mentor system, along with a game guide, FAQ, and forum located on the official site are valuable assets for beginners. No browser game would be complete without a referral system and Legacy of the Dragons has one which offers players diamonds and rubies if the players they invite eventually spend money on the game. The two premium currencies have identical functions so far as I can tell though they are obtained differently and have different values. The less valuable Rubies are purchased with SMS (text messages) while Diamonds are purchased via PayPal, Moneybookers, credit cards, or other more common methods.

Final Verdict: Good

Legend: Legacy of the Dragons mixes animated turn-based battles effectively with a largely text & image based game. Immersion takes a hit but the sheer size of the game world and the clean interface make up for this. Legacy of the Dragons suffers from many of the faults common in browser MMORPGs and while it won’t win many fans over to the genre, current players should definitely check it out.